Revelation
by Awahili
Summary: Takes place in FTF just after the agents get back from Antarctica.  Mulder receives a visitor in the middle of the night, and it's the last person he ever expected to see.  Questions are answered and realizations are made.  Rated for mild language.


I went back and watched both movies today, and my little plot bunnies got to jumping. I always wanted more interaction between these two characters, especially in the later seasons. Alas, I never got my wish. Though I'd love to hear what you think, so don't forget to review!

This takes place in the first movie, just after they get back from Antarctica.

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><p>Mulder woke groggily to the sound of someone pounding on his door. He lifted his head to glance at the clock on his desk. He blinked blearily as his sleep addled brain tried to process the glowing red numbers, and finally he was able to focus on them. He stumbled to his feet, wondering who would be calling on him at eleven o'clock at night.<p>

The FBI had suspended him for a week with pay pending an investigation, and Scully was on convalescent leave until she healed from her ordeal in Antarctica. He'd fallen asleep almost immediately after dropping Scully off at her apartment, insisting as she always did that she was fine. Not having any valid excuse to stay longer, Mulder accepted it and let her go. He knew she had a lot to deal with, not the least of which was first degree frostbite and wind burn from their trek back to the Snow-Cat. The expedition that had retrieved them had checked them both out, giving them moderate bills of health and ordering them to take at least two weeks to recuperate.

After almost sixteen hours of unconsciousness, Mulder stumbled a bit on his way to the door. Leaning heavily on the door jamb, he quickly unlocked the deadbolt and turned the knob.

"Um…" He was momentarily stunned by the presence of the man at the door, and Bill Scully smiled flatly at the sight of his sister's partner rendered speechless.

"Are you going to make me stand in the hallway while you formulate a proper sentence?" Shocked into action, Mulder stepped back quickly and allowed the other man into his home. He glanced around quickly, hoping there wasn't anything too horrible sitting in plain sight, but it seemed all of his personal things were put away. He winced as he caught sight of himself in the hallway mirror, but there was nothing he could do about that anyway.

"Why are you here?" The eldest Scully sibling had stopped in his foyer, looking around at Mulder's home with barely hidden disdain. Bill took a moment to collect his thoughts, taking in Mulder's disheveled appearance and wind-burnt face.

"I was just at Dana's house," he started evenly. "I was in port and was at Mom's when she called with an invitation for the weekend. Dana didn't know I was in town, and Mom thought it would be a nice surprise for her, so I tagged along." Mulder nodded and ran a hand over his face in an effort to wake himself up; Bill had caught him off-guard and unprepared for whatever accusations that were no doubt headed his way.

"Can I get you something to drink? I'm not sure I have much, probably just water or orange juice." Bill paused for a moment and Mulder celebrated silently – now they were evenly unbalanced.

"No…no thank you," the last bit seemed forced, but Bill bit it out as he glanced to the living room. "Do you mind if we sit down?" Now completely baffled, Mulder just gestured invitingly toward the couch. Once they were both settled, Bill took a deep breath and half-turned toward Mulder.

"Dana told us a story," he began hesitantly, "and it's a story I have a hard time believing. But, then again, my sister has always been the most truthful of us. Even when she knows it isn't what we want to hear, she won't lie." Mulder nodded knowingly, having been on the receiving end of Scully's brutal honesty a time or two.

"I'm not really sure why you're here…"

"My mother sent me out for milk, which is Scully family code for she needs to talk to Dana alone." Mulder laughed at that, picturing the Scully matriarch banishing her eldest son from the house for a time.

"And how did you find me?" At this, Bill looked a little sheepish and Mulder stifled a surprise laugh. He'd never known Bill Scully to be embarrassed of anything, always so confident and headstrong in his course no matter what.

"After the whole…incident last year, I had a friend of mine look you up." If it hadn't been so late, and this entire visit so surreal, Mulder might have found enough gall in him to be angry. But as it was, he was still reeling from the almost civil tone Bill was using with him and so glossed over it entirely.

"Okay…" Mulder leaned back in his seat and settled his hands on his knees. "So?"

"So," Bill replied a bit tersely, "I wanted to hear it from you. What really happened?"

"If you don't think Scully is lying, why do you need to hear it from me?" Bill erupted off of the couch in a whirlwind of frustration, but something about his posture told Mulder that he wasn't angry at the agent.

"I don't know," Bill paced the short length of the room before turning around and retracing his steps. "She said something about a bee sting and an allergic reaction before she lost consciousness. When she woke up she was naked in a laboratory in the freezing cold. Come to find out she was in _Antarctica_ of all places, I mean it's just unbelievable!" With the rant out of his system, Bill sank back down onto the couch and turned to Mulder. "Tell me what happened."

It was the plea in the other man's voice that surprised Mulder most of all. He took a moment to gather his thoughts before launching into the tale. To his credit, Bill Scully sat absolutely silent as Mulder unfolded the events of the last week, beginning with their assignment in Dallas and even including his conversations with Kutzweil. He didn't blink as Mulder detailed their run through the cornfield, Scully's decision to leave the bureau, and the bee sting. When he got to the part about waking up in the hospital, however, Bill held up a hand.

"Wait, you were shot in the head?"

"It grazed me," he leaned over to show the healing wound on his forehead. "It's pretty deep but not serious."

"And this…Kurtzweil. He's the one who told you where Dana was?"

"No," Mulder sat back and closed his eyes for a moment, recalling the series of events that led him to his brush with death in the backseat of a limousine. "When I woke up I went looking for Kurtzweil, but he was already dead; killed by the very men he'd been working for. The man I found instead told me that Scully had been infected with a virus. He gave me the antidote and a set of coordinates, said I had less than four days to find her."

"So you just took it on faith? Trekked up to Antarctica hoping this man wasn't lying to you?"

"I had to," Mulder answered. "I had to take the chance. He'd presented enough evidence to convince me he was telling the truth, and I didn't have the time to question."

"So you just, what, hopped on a plane to Antarctica?"

"Sort of," Mulder offered Bill a thin smile. "Bill, why are you here?" Bill sat forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he looked sideways at Mulder.

"I believe you, in case you were wondering." Mulder noticed how easily Bill dodged the question, but let other man speak his mind. "It's too fantastic for you to make up, and I know Dana's not one to spin tall tales. But what I want to know is why?"

"Why?" Mulder shook his head quickly. "You'd rather I left her there? She'd be dead now, or worse."

"I'm not ungrateful," Bill corrected quickly, "I'm just trying to understand. You went clear across the globe to get to her, Mulder. You acquired several modes of transportation both going there and coming home, GPS equipment to locate her, not to mention food and clothing costs. I'm fairly familiar with the federal government, and I know for damn sure they didn't foot that bill. Which leads me to believe it came out of your pocket. And, no offense Mulder, but you don't seem the type to be rolling in dough."

"You're seriously asking me to justify spending _money_ after the ordeal your sister just went through? Well thanks for your concern about my bank account, but I'll be just fine." Mulder clamped a hand around Bill's arm and bodily lifted him off the couch, fully intending to throw him out. It was taking all of his willpower not to give in to the temptation to break Bill's nose, and only the thought of Mrs. Scully's disapproving frown stopped him.

"Whoa, wait a minute!" Bill tried to shrug him off, but Mulder seemed to have regained most of his strength. "Listen to me for a damn minute." He pushed back with his considerable mass, halting Mulder's forceful push toward the door. "I'm here to thank you, you jackass!"

"Thank me? That's not what it sounded like."

"Well, it's not something I ever pictured myself doing, so forgive me if I get it a bit wrong. I just…the risks you've taken, the sheer enormity of the task itself leads me to think…"

"What? What do you think, Bill?"

"You care about her, don't you?" Bill crossed his arms over his chest, trying to seem imposing to the wiry agent, but Mulder's crumpled clothing and incredulous stare were rather off putting.

"Care about her? Jesus, Bill, you are an ass. Of course I care about her. She's my partner, my best friend, my…"

"Your what?" he challenged, ignoring the warning flash in Mulder's eyes.

"You wouldn't understand."

"Then tell me. Make me understand." Mulder didn't answer and Bill pressed forward. "Your lover?" He didn't have time to block the punch Mulder threw at his face, and he stumbled back into the wall as he clutched his nose. He half expected Mulder to keep coming, but a quick glance revealed the agent slumped against the opposite wall.

"Just go, Bill. You got your story. Go back to your family." Bill wiped his nose on his sleeve, happy to see that the bleeding wasn't as bad as he'd thought. He stared at Mulder for a long time, trying to discern what it was that kept Dana so loyal to him. Mulder stared back intensely, daring Bill to say anything else. Finally Bill shuffled to the door, but as he opened it he had to turn around one last time.

"In case you didn't get it before – what I was trying to say, I mean…thank you." Their eyes locked and all at once Bill knew. He saw past the arrogant exterior, past the self-righteous shield that the agent kept around him. In the dead of the night, standing on his doorway, Bill finally saw the real Fox Mulder. And he was nothing more than a man – a broken man searching for answers in a darkness that threatened to overwhelm him. He was holding fast to something, some unwavering mainstay that was as necessary to him as air, and if he let go he would be lost forever.

With one final nod Bill closed the door behind him, leaving Mulder alone with his thoughts and his demons. As he walked down the stairs that would lead him back to his family, he knew exactly what it was that Mulder grasped onto. He'd seen it in the man's eyes as he recounted his tale, heard it in the way he'd refused to give up in that hospital so long ago, felt it in the ferocity of Dana's defense of her partner and friend, even as Bill railed against him.

Bill would never be Mulder's best friend, nor probably ever come to really accept the man who'd brought nothing but trouble to his family. But Bill knew that as long as Mulder had breath in his body he'd always do whatever was necessary to ensure he never lost that one person who grounded him, who kept him from falling into that darkness. And as he drove back to his mother and sister – back to the family that he'd sworn to his father's memory to protect – he found himself sending a prayer of thanks skyward for sending such a man into their lives.


End file.
